CORNWALL, Ontario – Bernadette Clement has become the new Mayor of Cornwall. She is the first female of colour to be mayor of a municipality in Ontario.
Clement, who has served as a Councillor in Cornwall for the past 12 years ran on the campaign motto “It’s Time”.
Clement won the ballot with 6,688 votes, roughly 54 per cent of the total vote. She was well ahead of her closest rival, David Murphy who got 3,042 votes and incumbent Leslie O’Shaughnessy who got 2,450 votes.
O’Shaughnessy reflected on his time as Mayor of Cornwall.
“An elected position is only yours for a period of time,” he said.
O’Shaughnessy said that his next plans involve retirement with some volunteering.
“On Dec. 1 the cellphone goes in the garbage,” he said.
Councillor David Murphy recieved almost 25 per cent of the overall vote for Mayor.
“What I enjoyed the most was dealing with people. Talking to people, face-to-face, getting that interaction and finding out their concerns,” said Murphy.
“I would like to thank my family for their unwavering support, my friends and my team. My campaign team worked very hard…” he added.
Clement arrived at the Cornwall Civic Complex a little before 10 p.m.
“The first thing I want to do is congratulate all of the (new) councillors and old councillors who were elected tonight,” she said. “Thank you to Mayor Leslie O’Shaughnessy and the current council and what they’ve done the past four years.”
Clement is the first female Mayor of Cornwall and according to Black Vote Canada, Clement is the first female mayor of colour in Ontario.
Clement’s father is of Caribbean descent and her mother is French Canadian.
“Cornwall elected the first Jewish Mayor years ago, so this isn’t unusual for Cornwall,” she said.
Clement explained that her first order of business will be to meet with those elected to council one-on-one and engage in strategic planning.
Those elected to Cornwall’s 10 Council seats are:
Justin Towndale, Elaine MacDonald, Carilyne Hebert, Maurice Dupelle, Claude MacIntosh, Eric Bergeron, Glen Grant, Todd Bennett, Syd Gardiner and Dean Hollingsworth.
Overall voter turnout in 2014 was over 13,000, this election was just under that number.
